Victoria has raised the costs for using phones while driving.
$433 and 4 Demerits points it hardly seems enough for those involved in a fatal traffic smash.
I feel it will not belong before all states follow, it is said doing this is the same as driving under the influence.
A justing makeup too needs addressing far too many smashes come because activity other than concentrating on driving is taking place.
A fatal road smash is some thing I hope we all never have to see, but am sure most of us have seen far too many.

Dear Belly,

VicRoads tells us that it is illegal in all Australian
states and territories to use a hand-held mobile
phone while driving. This included talking, iexting,
playing games, taking photos, et cetera. Yet people
continue to do it. Distraction has been identified
as a contributing factor in car crashes and near crashes
and truck crashes and near crashes.
Yet despite the dangers and illegality
people continue to carry on regardless. I'm not sure
if increasing the penalty rates will help - but something
has to be done. I would hate to have anyone lose a family
member as a result of distractions like these, or have
them be crippled for life.

I recently got caught myself, didn't deny it when asked if I was using the phone, but did get off with faulty brake lights. Nice country cop.

So I went and bought a hands free kit, one fir a hundred bucks that clips onto the sun visor.

I find this device far more distracting than using a hand held, one, because they are often useless, and two, because they are often useless, one spends much of your time focused on the device, not the road ahead.

Like most things, if the government wants us to be safer, make it affordable to do so by subsidizing the cost of a decent hands free device and ban the sale of inferier products.

The truth is, talking on a phone while driving is not the distraction they like you to think it is, at least not in my case, although texting etc definitely is.

I feel they are targeting easy revenue dollars in most cases.

In my job, where we are on the road a lot, driving company cars, the Insurance company will not cover us if we have an accident while using our mobile phones.

This includes hands free devices or the in-car Bluetooth technology.

The insurance companies know the road accident statistics better than anyone, so that's enough for me.
I don't use the phone unless I am safely pulled over by the side of the road.

Rechtub you disappoint me.
I expected to see in print those words, that it was a money maker.
Even that it is the Nanny State in action.
But no false passion from me here 22 years working on the roads before becoming a union official looking after my ex workmate tells a dreadful story.
Those years saw the death strip on the Pacific Highway as my factory floor and too carnage most have forgotten.
A young Mum reaching past the bucket seat she was sitting and driving in, at 100 klm to replace her bubs dummy on the back seat, both died.
Hands free *are not stick on the window*
Costing from $400 to $1000 to buy and have fitted real hands free is much safer.
Newer cars have blue tooth and it is far better.
IF we knew the numbers killed or maimed because drivers wanted to check face book with one hand and eyes of road?
After the insults from folk who do not understand what is taking place a road worker is in the end exposed to death and maiming even their own, because a road is their factory floor but a place that far too many fail to respect and understand death is waiting for its next victim, not always the driver doing the wrong thing, even his/her passengers may pay for lack of attention/care
Road rules become much more important when the dead is one of our own.

Belly, There are several thing more dangerous when driving than talking on a hand held phone.

Attending to an infant is one, eating a hot pie, tuning the radio or listening for a quiz clue, searching for your favorite track on the CD, or even searching the GPS data.

Another is talking to a passenger, as most people make eye contact when talking, something you don't have to do while on the phone.

Very few of these are policed, let alone attaching fines, WHY?, because they are too hard to police.

Mobile phones are easy to police and easy to verify the offense, so that's why I say, they are a great money spinner.

Now while you rightly say a good HF system costs $400-$1000, not many people can afford that, that's why I say if the government wants to get serious about road safety and mobile phones, make HF kits affordable and mandatory.